Why do furries exist?

I saw at least 20 people in head-to-toe fur suits this Halloween. I decided to ask google "why do furries exist", and was pleasantly surprised to find this fair and informative commentary on the existence of furry culture:

[NSFW=work unsafe video]

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I AGREE

[/NSFW] I'm really impressed that the narrator can tackle this subject in a matter-of-fact, non-judgemental manner. For those who can't sit through a 20 minute Youtube video, I've summarized the major points:

• From the outside, looking in, the furry culture is "different", most people ask why it exists, what is going on in the psyche of it's members, why do furries exist?
  
  
• Beginning in the early 20th century, authors and comic book writers began writing stories featuring anthropomorphized animals as characters. It creates memorable, interesting looking characters which are aesthically intriguing to children. By the mid-70s, most cartoon media intended for children, and Fritz the Cat, featured anthropomorphized animals.
  
  
• Most people lose their interest in anthromorphic animals in adolescence, but a few people remain fans of the art style into adulthood. Fans of these cartoons began dressing as their favorite characters at comic book and anime conventions. The first all furry convention was held in 1989.
  
  
• In the mid-90s, the internet helped furries find one another, build communities, host larger communities, share artwork. The narrator emphasizes that these communities are made up of people who happen to really like anthropomorphized art style, comparable to the way that others enjoy anime and comic book styles.
  
  
• Some people are *really really* into the art style. Really into it, furry fetishism. Studies using convenience samples of people attending furry conventions indicate that 37% of people actually express a sexual attraction to anthropomorphized animals, 17% of them expressed an interest in zoophilia; the other 63% of attendees have neutral or no feelings to sexualized animals, and are simply into the art style and community.
  
  
• An interesting stereotype that does hold up is that fully 23% and 41% of convention attendees are gay or bisexual respectively, compared to (respectively) 1.7% and 1.8% gay and bisexual people in the average population.
  
  
• A complex question is how 37% of furries find anthropomorphized animals sexy. The narrator emphasizes that, while it is strange to an outsider, it is not altogether more weird than other fetishes people have, like feet, teachers, nuns, latex, diapers, food, etc.
  
  
• The most plausible theory is that furry fetishism, like other fetishes, begin early in life. When one is first experiencing sexual feelings, certain things leave an ingrained context, which can lead to the development of rather ordinary fetishes (lingerie) or even some quite odd ones (balloons).
  
  
• Since children really love cartoons, and many cartoons feature anthropomorphized animals, a small percentage of children will notice their sexual feelings while watching some kind of anthropomorphized media. For example, having never felt sexual feelings before, then seeing Lola Bunny (Space Jam) for the first time, the context that "cartoon bunny is sexy" is ingrained in the brain. Sexual feelings release dopamine, animated bunny lady means dopamine release, the search for more dopamine release begins with sexualized animals online, which leads to online furry communities, perhaps dressing up in one's fursona at conventions, etc.

I have no feelings positive or negative about the furry community, but I'm happy to see that their subculture has a plausible explanation and historical context.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1RqZNPy